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August 9, 2015

Race for Safe Haven - Albany

I don't know who I think I am, but I actually busted out a nice short story ahead of time for my Halloween post this year...Gives me extra time to prepare for NaNoWriMo this year...go figure...

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[Race for Safe Haven - Albany]

The next morning the group assembled
in the living room. Steve easily carried Jenny in his arms. "I'm not
riding in the infected mobile," Laura demanded. "But what if you're
infected already from being in the car all day with her?" Jason said
"You're asking someone else get infected? You were right next to her.
Either you can't get infected so easily, or you're already sick and should just
suck it up."
"People!" Mike
called with his arms raised "Jenny's going back into the station wagon and
I'm still there too. "I'll drive it this time," Steve announced
"Everyone else can ride in with Rhett for now." Mike nodded as he
opened the door and checked. "Clear," he said as he moved forward.
Rhett, Matt and Jason trailed with the bags and loaded up the cars while Steve
laid Jenny into the backseats of the station wagon.
"Shotgun!" Laura
called. "No," Rhett said as he blocked her and let Tara walk freely
to the front seat. "Why not?" Laura protested. "Because I don't
need you eating next to me," Rhett said as he walked to the other side and
got in. "Asshole," Laura said as she got into the back with Matt and
Jason.
With a little struggling,
Steve was able to drive the station wagon off of the grass and back onto the
road with Rhett easy following in his SUV. The final leg of the trip to Albany
was underway. There were no more games nor much happening in the way of
conversations. Every plan, major or minor, hinged on what happened when they
arrived at Albany, and whether or not anyone living were there for them.
As they neared the capital,
more and more abandoned cars began to accumulate on the sides of the road, at
first leading towards Albany, but they noticed there were now abandoned cars
heading away as well. "No help coming," was written on one car headed
away from the city, giving Rhett an uneasy feeling about the city.
"We should go now,"
Matt said in the back "While we still can.
"And go where?"
Jason asked.
"We could try
Buffalo," Rhett said, keeping an eye on the abandoned cars that were now
sitting in the middle of the road. The density in the streets was growing.
"No," Matt said
"We head to Atlanta."
"After we pick someone
up," Rhett said.
"I thought we were just
gonna head for Safe Haven?" Laura asked.
"Nah," Tara said
"First Rhett has to get his BFF."
"Who cares about
that," Laura said "We're in Albany. Mike says this is where we cut
the psycho loose."
"Let's find the National
Guard first," Jason said, irritated at Laura.
They passed a sign welcoming
them to Albany. All eyes not concentrated on driving were immediately looking
off in every direction, seeking any sign of refuge or indication of where to
go. All anyone could see were blood and dead bodies. "What happened
here?" Tara asked as Rhett drove around the piles of dead. "Looks
like a battle," Jason said, noting the bullet casings and empty guns on
the ground.
"Mike knows where to go,
right?" Rhett asked as Tara shrugged. "I suppose," she said as
Matt sat forward. "He's got it marked on a map," he said as everyone
flinched at the sound of a gunshot. "What was that?" Jason asked.
"I don't know," Rhett said. "Where did it come from?" Tara
asked. "I don't know," Rhett said. "Is it coming? Are we safe
here?" Laura asked. "I. Don't. Know," Rhett shouted as he drove
up and pulled even with the station wagon ahead and rolled down his window.
"Was that your National
Guard?" Rhett called out.
"I don't know," Mike
responded "But it might be worth checking out."
They sat in the middle of the
street and listened for another gunshot. When it sounded, it was followed with
several more shots. "Follow me!" Rhett yelled and without waiting, he
drove off in the direction of the shots. A few blocks later, Rhett didn't need
to listen anymore as several zombie were now zeroing in on the direction as
well.
Around the next corner, they
noticed a large gathering of zombies chasing two people running together. One
man was shouldering the other as they stumbled frantically down the street.
"We gotta do something," Tara said. Rhett looked at the mass of
zombies and tried to figure a plan to get in and out of there with the
survivors.
"Tara, drive," Rhett
said as he exited the car.
"Where the fuck are you
going?" Tara shouted as Rhett ran to the rear of the car and opened the
window to the trunk. Next he opened the trunk door and climbed in before
closing the trunk. He readied his shotgun and held it out the back window as he
turned to look for Tara who was finishing her climb into the driver's seat.
"Get ahead of them, then
stop," he yelled "We're no good to them from behind." Tara
nodded and hit the gas just as Steve driving the station wagon caught up. Rhett
motioned for him to keep up as they drove away. Tara honked on the horn as she
drove, getting the attention of as many zombies as possible as the group slowly
began to cut the distance between the two running men.
"Keep it steady!"
Rhett shouted as he one handed a handgun and began firing into the crowd as he
passed. He noticed the puzzled looks on the two men's faces as he went passed
and Tara stopped the car. "Move it!" he yelled as he dropped the
handgun and aimed the shotgun. Rhett waved Steve to drive passed the SUV,
allowing him clear aim to cover the two men. "They're coming from the
front, too!" Tara yelled but Rhett ignored her as he waved for the men to
come in through the back.
The one man getting shouldered
reached the trunk and handed Rhett a heavy messenger bag. He then tried jumping
in beside Rhett through the opening but only got halfway. The other man,
shouldering an assault rifle, rushed to the passenger side door and got in
while Rhett fired off a few rounds into the hoard to keep them at bay. With one
arm he pulled the man hanging out before shouting "Go!"
Tara floored the gas pedal to
catch up to Steve, who was slowly making his way up the street to avoid the
zombies making their way over from the opposite direction. The man in the back
with Rhett laid on some supply bags while he repeated "Holy shit," and
tried to catch his breath. "Williams!" the man in the front with Tara
shouted "You still with me, Williams?"
"Yeah," Williams
said between gasps of breaths "I am." He then searched around
momentarily with his eyes until he saw his messenger bag and threw his arms
around it. "Are you hurt?" Rhett asked, eyeing the wet bloodstains on
the man's clothing. "Just...Just give us a moment," he said. "We
get to the safe spot first," the man up front said. "Do you know the
way?" Tara asked as the man nodded and said "First we just need to
lose the deadheads." Tara drove passed the station wagon as Rhett motioned
for Steve to follow.
Some time later, no longer
trailed by the dead, the group drove up to the rear of a warehouse. The man
climbed out of the front of Rhett's car and ran over to the shipping entrance
with a set of keys and unlocked the padlock and chain. He threw open the door
and allowed both cars to drive in before entering and pulling the door closed
behind him. Using flashlights and car lights, the group lit up the dark room
and grabbed as much equipment as they could before heading for a stairwell and
headed up a floor to where there were windows and natural light.
"No one else is
here," the one man said. "The last I saw Kristie, she was bit and
heading towards a dead end with a dozen of those things tailing," Williams
said "There's no way she'd make it. Maybe Clyde made it. You said you gave
him a key?" The man shook his head. "We went in the entirely wrong
direction at first," he said "If Clyde was still alive..."
"Uh," Mike
interrupted "Hi?" The two men looked at Mike, with Steve, Jason,
Laura and Matt behind him. Rhett was still downstairs with a flashlight making
sure the warehouse perimeter was safe while Tara was with Jenny, trying to at least
get her out of the station wagon. Williams waved to everyone in front of him.
"You have my sincerest thanks," he said "I'm Dr. Erik Williams.
This is Brandon. Thank you for saving us."
Williams was dressed in a dark
gray t-shirt with the left sleeve ripped off to accommodate some bandages. He
had bandaging around his right forearm and wrist, but it didn't seem as bad as
the bandaging on his left shoulder that had blood leaking through and oozing
into his shirt. The fact that he couldn't easily walk on his right foot raised
a few eyebrows as well. He wore thin, round glasses on his face and his light
brown hair was messy and had a patch clumpy with blood.
Brandon stood nearby him in a
white jacket stained all over with blood, none of it seemed to be his own. He
wore black cargo pants that were filled to capacity with various ammo clips.
Under his jacket he wore a holster with a revolver inside and single bullets
strapped. Around his body he wore an assault rifle that he kept his hands on at
all times, just in case.
Mike walked over and shook
Williams' hand. After introducing everyone, Mike asked "How big was your
group? Maybe those people are still out there. It wouldn't be too much trouble
to help try and find them." Williams put his hand up with a warm smile.
"Appreciated," he said "But not necessary. The fact that Brandon
and myself remain is quite the miracle.
Mike nodded along, only half
caring about the answers coming from Williams. It wasn't that he wasn't
interested, but rather he was looking for an easy segway. There was only one
reason anyone would still be in Albany, and Mike was itching to get to the
important information, maybe even add the two of them to his group, which would
make survival all the more likely. "Where you heading for the National Guard
outpost as well?" Mike asked, already envisioning how useful a doctor and
a guy with an assault rifle could be.
"The outpost to Safe
Haven?" Williams asked, elating Mike. "Yes!" he said
enthusiastically "The lot of us have each come a long ass way, believe me.
We can help you get there as well. There's more than enough room." Brandon
and Williams exchanged looks before Williams looked back to Mike. "Uh
oh," Matt said "Should we be sitting down for this?"